The Sanctions Fig Leaf

Updated March 21, 2003 12:01 a.m. ET

The start of the U.S. military campaign against Iraq early yesterday morning has already achieved one overdue, if unintended, result: the end of the United Nation's sanctions regime, particularly the oil-for-food program.

U.N. sanctions on commerce with Iraq were imposed on Aug. 6, 1990, four days after Saddam Hussein sent his troops into Kuwait. Theoretically they have been in place ever since, but erosion has made them essentially meaningless. Iraq carried on clandestine trade through neighboring countries like Jordan...